God’s Word Translation
Exodus 33:3
3Go to that land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not be with you, because you are impossible to deal with, and I would destroy you on the way.”
Exodus 33:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
- New International Version (NIV)Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
Context of Exodus 33:3
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “You and the people you brought out of Egypt must leave this place. Go to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with an oath, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2I will send a Messenger ahead of you, and I will force out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go to that land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not be with you, because you are impossible to deal with, and I would destroy you on the way.” 4When the people heard this bad news, they acted as if someone had died. No one wore any jewelry. 5The Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are impossible to deal with. If I were with you, I might destroy you at any time. Now take off your jewelry, and I’ll decide what to do with you.’ ”
Read all of Exodus 33Exodus 33:3 word by word
אֶל־אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּדְבָ֑שׁ כִּי֩ לֹ֨א אֶֽעֱלֶ֜ה בְּקִרְבְּךָ֗ כִּ֤י עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֙רֶף֙ אַ֔תָּה פֶּן־אֲכֶלְךָ֖ בַּדָּֽרֶךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Unto a landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- flowingזוּבzûb · to flow: flowingH2100
- with milkחָלָבchâlâb · milkH2461
- and honeyדְּבַשׁdebash · honeyH1706
- for I will not go upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- in the midstקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
- a stiffneckedעֹ֫רֶף‛ôreph · neckH6203
- a stiffneckedקָשֶׁהqâsheh · severeH7186
- peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- lest I consumeכָּלָהkâlâh · to end: destroyH3615
- thee in the wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: journeyH1870
Cross-references for Exodus 33:3
- Exodus 3:8I have come to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good land with plenty of room ⌞for everyone⌟. It is a land flowing with milk and honey where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live.
- Exodus 13:5The Lord swore to your ancestors that he would give you the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. When he brings you into that land flowing with milk and honey, you must observe this ceremony in this month.
- Leviticus 20:24I have told you that you will take their land. I will give it to you as your own. It is a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who separated you from other people.
- Numbers 13:27This is what they reported to Moses: “We went to the land where you sent us. It really is a land flowing with milk and honey. Here’s some of its fruit.
- Numbers 14:8If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us. This is a land flowing with milk and honey!
- Numbers 16:13Isn’t it enough that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey only to kill us in the desert? Do you also have to order us around?
- Joshua 5:6For 40 years the Israelites wandered through the desert until all their soldiers who left Egypt died. They died because they disobeyed the Lord. The Lord swore that he would not let them see this land flowing with milk and honey which he had sworn to give our ancestors.
- Jeremiah 11:5I will keep the oath I made to your ancestors and give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the land you still have today.” ’ ” I answered, “Yes, Lord.”
- Exodus 33:15Then Moses said to him, “If your presence is not going ⌞with us⌟, don’t make us leave this place.
- Exodus 32:10Now leave me alone. I’m so angry with them I am going to destroy them. Then I’ll make you into a great nation.”
- Numbers 14:12I’ll strike them with a plague, I’ll destroy them, and I’ll make you into a nation larger and stronger than they are.”
- Deuteronomy 32:26I said that I would cut them in pieces and erase everyone’s memory of them.
- 1 Samuel 2:30“Therefore, the Lord God of Israel declares: I certainly thought that your family and your father’s family would always live in my presence. “But now the Lord declares: I promise that I will honor those who honor me, and those who despise me will be considered insignificant.
- Jeremiah 18:7“At one time I may threaten to tear up, break down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom.
- Ezekiel 3:18Suppose I tell you that wicked people will surely die, but you don’t warn them or speak out so that they can change their wicked ways in order to save their lives. Then these wicked people will die because of their sin, but I will hold you responsible for their deaths.
- Ezekiel 33:13I may promise the righteous person that he will certainly live. But if he trusts in the right things that he has done and he does evil, none of the right things that he has done will be remembered. He will die because of the evil things he has done.
Commentaries on Exodus 33:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3I will not go up in the midst of thee - Consequently, the angel here promised to be their guide was not that angel in whom Jehovah's name was: and so the people understood it; hence the mourning which is afterwards mentioned.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3land flowing with milk and honey: Canaan was not as fertile as the Nile Valley in Egypt, but it was much more productive than the Sinai desert. stiff-necked people: They did not keep their promises. I might destroy you: As God of the covenant, the Lord would enforce the covenant terms that required the destruction of those who violated it (see study note on 23:20–33; also see 24:7–8 and study notes).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. I will not go up ... lest I consume thee--Here the Lord is represented as determined to do what He afterwards did not. (See on Ex 32:7).Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 33:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 33
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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